Aviation, more than anything else, emphasized the relationship between national aspirations and technological advancement. Because It promised military advantage along with controlling the forces of nature, aviation became obvious criterion, best and most effective sign of success, personal, social and national. Aviation systems are heavily dependent on other services, chaining the whole defense and civil system. Financial cost of air weapons is enormous.
Aviation is equally inextricably involved with personal existential dimension. There is relationship between the development of aviation and human development. This is due to the importance of the experience of flying in the reality of creative imagination. ‘Flight of ideas’ is not a worn phrase. Flight is the engine of our thoughts and aviation is a tangible expression of it, much like the flight of birds in the past. Aviation images were very popular during the first half of the 20th century because they expressed ability and opportunity. World of Aviation was perceived as being rich in resources, so everyone could find his own world in it. The airplane expressed desire to control the physical world and thinkers of the Golden Age of Aviation treated it as a superb political machine. Working class can breathe a sigh of relief, said Bertolt Brecht because aviation heralded a better future for him. Russia made the airplane almost religious icon. It represented G-d and the salvation of man. Aviation was designed to release the Russian nation from the shackles of the past, when most Russians were slaves and serfs of the emperor and nobility. Underdeveloped society expected a quick transition to the level of most advanced and powerful nation in the world.
Nowadays the dramatic impact of airplanes as technological innovation largely faded, but in the second half of the 20th century airplanes, and even more the missile, had decisive impact on the international political system. It is very difficult to estimate the economic return resulting from investments in aviation development. Means of modern aviation usually finish their use after several years as junk and give way to a new generation. Preliminary decisions may turn out to be mistaken, and changing them costs a fortune. Every decision in this area is a strategic military, economic and political decision that affects deeply the nerves of any state.
Here are two examples:
‘Lavi’ fighter project of Israel was canceled in advanced stage, because it was considered too expensive. Critics argued that Israel will turn into 'airplane that has a state’. This economic decision weakened the political status of Israel as an independent state. Corruption scandal uncovered at the time led to increased prices of fighter planes from U.S.A. Savings achieved eventually by cancelling the project were minimal. Cancellation of the Lavi was thought by enemies of Israel as expression of mind weakness. Some time later a wave of suicide terrorism started.
Sweden faced similar dilemma. Despite financial burdens, it decided to develop its own fighter plane. Following this decision Sweden is considered now days more independent politically and economically. All technologically related industries, such as electronics and automobiles, continued keeping competitive advantage.
High costs of developing modern means of aviation, along with the ability to move with airplanes high above physical obstacles, contributed much to utopian vision of united world. Aviation did so probably a lot more than any other idea or technological innovation in history. First pilots expressed utopian ideas and intentions, but failed to prevent two world wars in 20th century.
Space flight too caused a shift in public perception of the world. Earth from space looks as magical oasis, green and blue, small and fragile against black space that surround it. Astronauts impressions gradually filtered into international public consciousness, particularly after constructing of International Space Station .
Today, economy of the world is greatly global. Economic benefits win national aspirations. But globalization does not guarantee economic rationality. It may create a sense of economic dizziness, similar to that prior the Great Depression of the 1930th. Chronological proximity of the Great Depression with Golden Age of Aviation is indicative of the relations between them. Spiritual vision is the dream of every individual, and aviation is vital for securing the skies.
Greatest ordeal of a any state is whether it is capable of holding aviation strategy, using the appropriate resources, including personnel, media etc., by understanding the nature and vulnerability of itself. Successes and failures of air forces throughout history were resulted not on account of date but due to circumstances. Not technology, but foresight and understanding of aviation management equation correctly, recognition of the importance of supporting factors, played a major role. It created great opportunity for personal interpretation.
Swinging 1920th were age of euphoria, a result of eliminating physical limits thanks to airplane and radio. Economic behaviour became greedy. Financial pyramid schemes were popular and so were baseless acquisitions of real estates. The law of prohibition in U.S.A was ignored and the number of bars had more than doubled over the period. Sports stars salaries became imaginary. But the real sport was buying and selling of stocks. Stock market surge in the 1920th was psychological. Public followed it eagerly. It was popular as popular sports. Speculations were amazing. It was unbelievable. Everybody engaged in speculation and speculation only. People hovered in the air, losing ground underfoot. No one cared. Market created a fake, made fake prosperity, finding its expert commentators. High-tech stocks took an important part in the stock market soaring. They prompted speculators to raise the stocks to extreme level.
It is possible to link between the financial crisis of 2008 to the existence of the International Space Station, expansion of cheap air travel and rapid development of personal aviation. They all create a sense of global utopia, but do not guarantee robust economy and society.
Aviation does not guarantee real rational behavior as normal trade does. Regular trade is an equation where two sides benefits equally and it is a Win-Win game. Aviation as a trade give unique advantages to its operators.
Nobody is interested in a global vision in which he does not have full equality. Globalization is controlled by giant corporations, based in developed countries. These corporations control the civil life in their countries. Developed countries span technological and economic umbrella over developing countries.
Any individual in modern society suffers from stresses: personal, professional, economic, political and more. When pressures are local, the individual finds easy ways to relax. When pressures arise from a remote source, the result is often alienation, helplessness and exhaustion. Today, communication satellites network circle planet earth. The most common broadcasting channels are small local stations.
Economy has not yet found the mechanism for fair competition in globalization. Competition is sacred value of human society. It highlights the best over the worst. After World War I few stagnated European empires disintegrated into dozens of small vivid nation states.
There are unique problems in aviation itself:
Pilot training is a dangerous activity. During World War I most pilot casualties were a result of accidents. To be suspended between heaven and earth is not trivial. Particularly dangerous is landing, which is the transition from transparent and divine sky to the tough ground. What appear initially as a calm activity is actually totally engaging, with multi challenges, of many options and many risks. Pilots are required to adjust to a new 3D aerial orientation perception which vary greatly from that of normal human 2D on earth.
Airlines passengers often experience a sense of loss in flight. Fast distance leaps stress and epidemic dangers, fear of heights, jet lags resulting from disruption of biological clock, boredom of being for long hours in air desert and more, cause significant increase of weakness and depression. Depression and fatigue are common nowadays more than any time.
There is no better cure for depression than coming home to supportive environment. There is an African proverb: 'It take a village to raise a child’. This wise proverb describe the strong forces pushing people towards Localism.
There is therefore uncertainty and rotation between global and local visions. This cycle which individuals are passing influence also countries with great powers. Each country debate on the subject.
Good examples of the conflict between Globalism and Localism are:
Continuing debate about Colonialism in the 19th century.
Political divide between left and right in modern countries. Wiemar Republic failed because its leaders failed to express German Localism compared to the Nazis who emphasized and highlighted it by violating the Treaty of Versailles and investing of large part of the national budget in aviation.
Wars in Iraq and other developed countries. Major players in the international arena fails to impose order in developed countries, because there is a persistent minority who still prefer local interests, which are usually that of familial and ethnic groups.
The result of this conflict is that we live in partial Globalism. The international system is a conflict between few partners competing for hegemony in world markets.
This competition is best reflected in the aerospace industry:
Space industry of the Soviet Union didn’t allocate enough resources to develop the Soviet space shuttle when it was slightly behind the American space program. The result of stopping the project was a huge deterioration in international prestige of the Soviet Union, which led ultimately to its collapse. Russia, which emerged out of the collapse; was in deep economic recession and found international markets almost blocked to the many products of its aerospace industry. Russians are now working hard to return to international markets.
Americans collaborate in building the international space station 'Freedom' with many other countries and especially Russia. This step is essentially economic, but has far-reaching political implications. It maintain world peace, but at the same time open a doorway for Russia's return to the status of the Soviet Union together with the Cold War.
Europe is currently a political and economic union. European Union invest in some aerospace programs, knowing that this is the key to continued stability development. Airbus company, which manufactures advanced passenger airplanes all over Europe, is one of the flagships of the Union. EU has serious economic and social problems, particularly in light of the technological and economic gap between North to South states. Having a brilliant showcase space program of its own may change the situation.
China's economy depends on export of its goods worldwide. Yet the Chinese are developing independent space industry targeted for man made missions, in purpose of creating a much needed sense of identity, authenticity, originality and national prestige, prestige that each successful space mission brings.
India sends probes to Moon and Mars, in order to create the image of technologically advanced superpower. Competition with China is a major consideration in investing many resources in this race.
Japan was defeated in the technology intensive competition on world markets against cheap China. Economic strategy chosen by Japan is printing money to the markets in order to rescue its economy from ongoing recession. This policy mimics the economic rescue measures of the United States. Japan's space policy too favors more international cooperation, through the International Space Station partnership where it has a separate unit.
Clumsiness of the crystallization of Globalism nowadays shows that it can become huge conflict, in light of the individual's dependence on his family, community and ethnic group in which he grew up and was developed. Globalism failed again and again throughout history because it had always a central control mechanism, liberal but authoritative.
Many empires rose and declined while representing the world’s best of their time.
Huns defeated the Romans, Mongols defeated the Chinese, Indians defeated the British. The fate of the Jewish people in the diaspora is proof of that. They always paid the highest price for the faith in united world. German Jews are the best example.
Aviation development highlighted excessively, in a demagogic style, any social gap. For many radical groups aviation was a symbolic primary weapon, legitimate in their eyes, vital and destructive.
It was used for radical change by unsatisfied political movements, such as Nazism or Islamic terrorism. Its high profile made any aviation operation successful eventually, even if it failed. Governments attention for it only fueled the conflicts.
Spiritual flying experience is the secret dream of every individual. It involves natural and organic connection with many life aspects and systems. During maturation of the Aviation Age, when airplanes became the primary means of war and flight became, in parallel, mass experience, there was dramatic shift in the expectations of many people. They experienced frustration, loss of control, lack of social balance, euphoria and crash out of hopes. Disappointment was much stronger than the hope at the beginning of the era.
1960s are perhaps the best example of the gap that the global aviation program for personal flying experience. Although this period mankind has reached its peak in flight, through launching man to the moon, on earth drug culture was developed and youth were on recreational drugs, looking this way for personal flying experience with mind expansion. It may be concluded that Western countries reached maturity in aviation development with the understanding that there is no link between the psychological flying experience and the fascinating experience of flying in airplanes which became more boring than bus travelling, but it was rather that the youth felt frustrated as a result the aviation experience in space, with all the advantage economic and technological that it gave to narrow elite only.
Use of passenger planes by terrorists in September 2001 attack and the decisive response of the United States indicates that aviation remain, locally and globally alike, in the forefront of the human soul and that the relationship between spiritual flight experience mechanical flying experience will stay forever.
Description of the intense conflict between globalization and Localism produced by aviation development was brought by famous science fiction writer HG Wells. In 1907 Wells published a book: "War in the Air". The book describe the destruction of the world as a result of global air war between the superpowers. War begins as personal war mongering by a German airship captain. The result is the rapid spread of war throughout the world, a global destruction of civilian population centers, after which the economy get back to a primordial status, as well as non ending of the war, which continues somewhere else after the hero returns to his destroyed native village.
Few more books of Wells are: "Shape of Things to Come" from 1936. This book describe the collapse of the international political system after World War I, ending in devastating global air war. After the world is destroyed, somewhere few pilots survived, with airplanes that the use fore trade transport connection from place to place. Their transportation monopoly encourage them to establish the 'Dictatorship of Aviation'. This is global association of airlines which
manage wisely the world as a whole. The organization's first conference is held in the city of Basra. The book became a movie in 1938. UK viewers view on screen swarms of bombers bombing London. The public reaction was that this is pure science fiction that there is no chance that it will materialize.
Wells described in his the book "world Set Free" the atomic holocaust , and in "Island of Dr. Moreau" the abominations of genetic modifications on the basis of race theory. He won the honor of kings after World War II, as his most visions realized.
Wells was a believer in global government, composed of the educated elite. Yet full realization of the vision seems very difficult today, because of the question 'who will be the boss' and ongoing struggle between globalization and Localism in many places around the world, particularly Arab and Muslim world where the extended family institution is dominant.
Historical experience shows that during the thousands of years of human culture adolescence experience remained similar. Each generation strive to re-invent the world. Humanity has evolved through leaps of thought, derived largely as a result of enlightenment experience of individuals. Enlightenment is momentary flash of inspiration and insight in which a solution pops up for existing problem. Enlightenment may be derived or developed, in many cases, in connection to the experience of spiritual flight, which is momentary disengagement from the shackles of gravity and hovering over reality. So Aviation, which is the realistic expression of spiritual flight, is appropriate activity to stimulate enlightenments. It is the arena were enlightrnment can be found, developed and approved. In absence of appropriate cultural heritage for aviation transportation revolution, polarity between Globalism and Localism may continue for the foreseeable future, especially as means of aviation will increase. The more there will be there will be more people who will be interested in personal spiritual flight. The wish of flight is in the base of mankind's consciousness.
Source:
Nazi Germany Aviation as Major Cause for the Holocaust
Poetic and Healing Research
Part A – Chapter 2
Author: Avinoam Amizan
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